Home Alumni Two new Iowa Supreme Court justices have Drake ties

Two new Iowa Supreme Court justices have Drake ties

When Iowa Governor Terry Branstad LW’74 recently appointed three new members to the Iowa Supreme Court, he further strengthened the long-standing relationship between Drake Law School and the Iowa Supreme Court. Two of the three justices have ties to Drake Law. Bruce Zager is a 1981 graduate and Edward Mansfield is a long-time adjunct professor of law who currently teaches Civil Procedure. In addition to Zager and Mansfield, Branstad also appointed Pleasant Valley attorney Thomas Waterman to the court.

“We’re justifiably proud of the relationship Drake Law has had with the Iowa Supreme Court,” says Allan Vestal, dean of Drake Law. “We are confident that both men will be fine additions to the court.”

Zager has served as a District Court judge since 2009. Mansfield, in addition to his work as an adjunct professor at Drake Law, has also served as a judge with the Iowa Court of Appeals since 2009.

“Ed [Mansfield] is a highly respected and hard working judge, a person of rare accomplishment,” says Allan Vestal, dean of Drake Law. “We are, of course, proud of Judge Zager, a distinguished graduate and loyal supporter of the Law School.”

The three appointees were selected from a field of nine nominees chosen by the Iowa Judicial Nominating Commission. The new justices must be sworn in within 30 days of the appointment and will likely be present when the Supreme Court hears oral arguments in six cases on March 24 in the courtroom of Drake’s Neal and Bea Smith Legal Clinic.

— Tim Schmitt